Heartsbane
by Cobalt Coaster
Summary: Chronicling Heartsbane's rise to power, while Kalsis and Orion ready for war. Rated T for blood, gore, language. R&R please! Still haven't managed to upload Chapter 7 but 8 is done!
1. Evils Unleashed

Disclaimer: The only thing I own is the words

_These men disgust me. They strut around my world like they do not bow to no one. That will change. Albion will change. And these _heroes_, I could destroy them as easily as snapping a twig._

_But patience is key. Soon I will set this right. Many powerful men, graduates from the guild, have tried, yet the Heroes Guild has stopped them. They grip the world with an iron fist using their puppets they call _heroes_. They hold the true power in this land. They empty the men of their own allegiances during training so that they will bend to the Guild's every will. It is time that someone made a stand about this abomination. It is time for the Guild's fall._

_If only I had a mentor worthy of me, to teach to me the lost powers of Albion so that I could forever destroy the Guild and its corrupted members. But a plan has been planted in my mind. Soon tendrils of opportunities will sprout from that seed, and ultimately bring about the destruction of everything the Guild has sought. I bring change. Already change has taken root in my birthplace. They respect me, even as a child. They know I am already more intelligent than them by a thousandfold. They fear me, as it should be. This is what Albion will be like the day my plans have finished. Change will come, the day my plans come to be._

_I am Heartsbane, and I will set right the wrongs that have plagued this world!_

* * *

The Guildmaster shook his head, realizing the horrors he had set loose upon the world. Placing the black diary back on the bookshelf, he exited the charred, ruined house in Knothole. His heart turned to lead as he foresaw the terror that was in store for him. 


	2. Cruelty

**Seven Years Ago**

Heartsbane stood erect, calmly eyeing at the insolent sparrows that adorned the Guild's walls. Concentrating, he trapped the bird in a cage of raw will and brought it down to his eyes. He laughed, a short, barking, laugh, and aimed a burst of lightning at the bird's wings. A sharp squeak emanated from the sparrow's beak as the tips of its wings were cruelly seared off. Heartsbane did the same to its legs, and then dissipated the mental cage around the fowl. It dropped like a rock to the hard earth, and lay there, chirping in pain and fright. Heartsbane coldly smiled, then slowly pressed his booted foot down upon the struggling creature. The sharp retort of broken bones cracked in the air.

"That's a bit cruel, ain't it?" the man in the black hood was sneering at him, like he was a _superior_.

Heartsbane quickly turned and laid his blistering eyes on the provocative man. He surrounded him in a will cage, just like the sparrow, except for one deadly difference. The cage was closing in on him and nothing could break Heartsbane's will.

"Excuse me?" a chilling voice echoed around the courtyard. Guild members quickly turned toward the disturbance then averted their eyes. The students were well aware of Heartsbane's prowess, and rumours were circulating of disappearances of men who insulted the powerful young man.

"I-I didn't-" the hooded man struggled to talk as fear gripped him.

"No, I heard what you said. I meant if you wanted to take it back?" Heartsbane's yellow eyes gleamed.

"Y-yes, Heartsbane," the man sputtered as the cage constricted his chest.

"ENOUGH!"

The guild members turned swiftly and saw the Guildmaster striding toward Heartsbane. Their eyes met, and there was an outspoken challenge between the two.

"What is it, Guildmaster?" he spat out the title through clenched teeth.

"Get away from him. Now."

Heartsbane drew himself up, and energy seemed to crackle from him.

"Don't even try," mouthed the Guildmaster. Heartsbane gathered in his will and sent a powerful wave of energy at the elderly man. He flicked it aside and brought Heartsbane into the air.

"I could break you! Do not try and overpower me, I am much stronger. Now go, and leave him be!" he dropped Heartsbane back to the hard earth. He began to walk away.

"You have sealed your fate this day, Guildmaster," Heartsbane called after him, enraged. A shiver went unwillingly up the teacher's spine. He knew it was true.

Once the Guildmaster was out of sight, Heartsbane turned menacingly toward the cowering hooded man and held out his hand. Trembling, the man dropped five gold coins into his hand. Heartsbane contemptuously threw him against the wall and walked away.

From the window, the Guildmaster shook his head.


	3. First Blood

Kalsis sat at the long table, a plate in front of him piled high with dishes from all over Albion and his best friend, Rehal, at his elbow. It was the mark of his fourth year at the Heroes Guild; he was sixteen. Rehal, a year older, had brown hair and sharp green eyes. He was considerably better at melee and will training, but none at the Guild could match Kalsis with the bow. Maybe it was that Greyall, the legendary ranger, was his father, or maybe that the bow he used was etched with runes from the long-forgotten Old Kingdom, but Kalsis was already a master of his craft. However, when he and Rehal skirmished, Rehal always seemed to win.

Suddenly, the doors boomed open, and in strode Heartsbane, followed by his fawning admirers. His jet hair whipped in the slipstream, and his pale, mottled skin shone in the firelight. The master student's yellow eyes seemingly burned into everyone's mind, and he arrogantly strode to his seat. A small, new apprentice was sitting at it, and he tried in vain to scramble out of the way. Heartsbane caught him with a fist of will, and sent him flying ten feet down the table. The boy slid to a stop right in front of Kalsis, his eyes gleaming, nothing in them. Kalsis turned and found Heartsbane staring at him, his eyes daring him to challenge. He shuddered with the rest of the apprentices at the table as they thought about the everyday horrors Heartsbane wrought. Kalsis quietly finished his meal.

Kalsis snapped his eyes open and rolled off his bed, grabbing his dagger.

"Relax, it's only me. You're pretty wound up."

He looked up and saw Rehal, his face glowing with suppressed mirth. Kalsis slid his dagger back under his pillow and stood up.

"What's going on?" he asked, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"_He's_ challenged a visiting graduate to a skirmish. Come on, we can't miss it." Rehal was one of the apprentices that were obviously hostile to Heartsbane, and he could never drag himself to say his name. But he seemed excited, and Kalsis listened with interest

They raced through the halls, burst outside and ran down the sun-dappled stairs. A crowd was already forming around the melee ring, and cheering was emanating from within. Kalsis and Rehal shouldered their way through until they were leaning against the chest-high wooden railing. A grown man was inside, dressed in gleaming golden chain mail and had a greatsword across his back. His hands were in the air, and he was calling out to the crowd, which was chanting "Sa-bre Sa-bre".

"A Hero," Kalsis murmured softly, awestruck. Rehal grinned at him.

A dark shadow veiled the sun. Heartsbane stepped out of the Guild into the sudden darkness. He seemed to grow taller in the shadow, taking strength from it. He strode toward the ring, and entered by the gate. Unsheathing his iron katana from his back, he pointed it at the Hero.

"Sabre!" he boomed, "will you accept my challenge?"

"Of course," he said flippantly.

"Then let us begin!"

Heartsbane swung a vicious blow at the armoured hero, which he parried. Sabre loosed a bolt of lightning at the apprentice. The jagged line raced toward him, seeming to jump forward to kill him. Heartsbane contemptuously brushed it aside and sent his own lightning, which Sabre struggled to block. He attacked him with a flurry of blows, backing the Hero against the railing. At last, the apprentice knocked his sword away, picked him up by the collar of his mail, and bodily threw him, breaking through the opposite wooden rail. Sabre wearily lifted his head and surrendered.

But Heartsbane wasn't finished yet. He strode toward the battered form and, taking up his sword, stabbed him in the chest. The Hero let out a soft moan, then died. The victorious apprentice withdrew his bloodstained sword and wiped it on the dead form's armour.

Rehal jumped over the railing and pointed his sword accusingly at Heartsbane.

"You killed him!" he cried, "he surrendered, yet you still killed him!" Rehal failed to see Heartsbane ready himself; he was blinded by his rage. "You killed him!"

Heartsbane struck. Lightning leaped from his clenched fists, catching Rehal unawares. He held it, watching with cold satisfaction as the teenager writhed in the blood-soaked dirt. Rehal screamed in pain, his life slowly leaking into the uncaring dirt.

Six hours later, Kalsis was still there, staring up at the velvet sky in shock. Rehal was dead.


	4. Mistakes

A/N: Sorry about the short chapters and the long wait. I may keep on doing them short, but I'll put more in.

* * *

Heartsbane, who was he? The Guildmaster thought this even as he made the greatest mistake in his life. He had graduated Heartsbane. He had released the greatest evil Albion has known. Yet he still didn't know the magnitude of his dreaded blunder. 

He had known this would happen. The Guildmaster knew, deep in his heart, that Heartsbane would do this. Yet, he took him in anyway, thinking foolishly he could change him. Another mistake. And, to top it off, he allowed the pompous Sabre into the Guild to challenge Heartsbane, once again knowing he would die.

Yet he did not foresee another piece of the puzzle…

* * *

Kalsis sat on the bench in the picnic area, his anger boiling up inside him. Heartsbane had killed another. The first man to call him 'Chicken Chaser' he had beheaded. And it didn't end there. Heartsbane had picked up the head and ripped it in half, then throwing them at the citizens. 

"What are you doin' here, eh?" a man was walking down from the path. He had gray hair and a short beard. He had intense blue eyes, and surprisingly, a sword at his hip.

Kalsis stayed silent.

"I know you, you're one of the new graduates. Fresh meat, eh?"

In spite of himself, a grin crept across Kalsis' face.

"Ah, hopefully you're not like that Heartsbane I heard about. He that bad?"

The grin disappeared.

"Ah, my mistake," the man sat beside him. He nodded toward the carcass of the Wasp Queen. "You do that?"

"Yeah."

"Not exactly cheery, are you, eh?Listen, it's all you've been given, so do something with it. You're the only one who can."

Kalsis started. "What? Who are-"

The man was gone.


	5. Foundations

A/N: Sorry about the really really long wait.

* * *

Heartsbane sat upon his black horse, fire flickering across his face. Knothole had been razed to the ground, and his empire had finally begun. It was here that he shall build his throne, his future around. Here, in the very glade he was born in. No one will defeat him. No one _can_ defeat him.

* * *

Kalsis strode up to the trader, who whimpered and threw himself on the ground, prostrating himself before his feet. 

"Oh, get up," he said contemptuously.

"You-you aren't going to kill me, O mighty one?" the trader whined in a nasal voice.

"Now why would I do that?" the leather-clad Hero said, helping the mustached man to his feet.

"So, you aren't one of _his_ cohorts, O mighty one?" the Trader said shakily.

Kalsis narrowed his eyes. Heartsbane's reputation preceded him. "Of course not. I wouldn't ally myself with the likes of him."

"Well, I am a trader. Nice to meet your acquaintance, Hero," the man flourished his hat.

"The name's Kalsis."

The trader started. "Oh, well, don't be offended, but you looked like another Hero named Orion." The trader glanced at Kalsis' questioning face, "he's a graduate from the Heroes Guild like yourself."

"Oh, where does he live?" Kalsis asked.

"I don't think he exactly lives anywhere, but he was last seen by Barrow Fields."

Kalsis thanked the trader and walked down the wooden bridge. This Hero intrigued him, and he didn't want to lose the lead.

* * *

Heartsbane's eyes flickered, as visions of a great city - the centre of his power whose foundations were being built not far from here – glided through his head. It would not be long now, before he could make his attempt to snatch the weapon he had been coveting for some time. 

A small, wiry soldier approached him, dressed in a dark boiled leather cuirass. He bowed respectfully, and took a breath. Heartsbane emerged from his meditative state and acknowledged this respective fighter.

"What is it, Sergeant?" he barked.

"It's a … delicate … matter that needs your attention, Dread Lord," the man spoke, not unnerved.

"Ah, come with me, Sergeant." Heartsbane got up from his ebony chair. "What is it?"

"Maladrac, the assassin, has returned from his … outing … in Bowerstone. He wishes to speak with you."

"Send him in." The Sergeant nodded and turned to the flap of the large pavilion.

"Halt!" Heartsbane called, "what's your name, Captain?"

"Er, Raitol, but, I'm a Sergeant," the soldier hesitated.

"Not anymore. Get to it, Captain." Heartsbane rewarded men who gave him loyalty and the respect he deserved.

Shortly after, a shrouded, slippery-looking man stepped into the tent, making no sound or unnecessary movement. He wore a hood over his face, but his hands were charred grey. An obsidian katana was slung across his back, and his stance betrayed his keen alertness. He bowed to Heartsbane, and spoke in a rasping voice.

"Kaldor has been taken care of, Dread Lord."

Heartsbane nodded. "Good. Move to the next target. Remember, I want her _alive_, Maladrac, and no casualties along the way. I don't want your hands bloodied. No one must know my involvement."

"As my Lord commands," Maladrac said as he bowed and stepped out of the pavilion.


	6. Orion

Kalsis crouched, eyeing the bandit who stood but five metres from him. _An easy shot_, he thought. He drew his engraved bow and nocked an arrow. Drawing it to his ear, he mouthed a prayer and released the taunt bowstring.

It hit empty air. He paused. The shot was right on, the target itself moved. Kalsis started. The bandit was lying on the ground beneath the katana of a Hero dressed in bright chainmail. He rolled, and drew another arrow, quickly centering it on the unknown warrior's head.

"State your business," the archer said curtly.

The Hero sheathed his sword. "I don't want a fight."

Kalsis lowered his bow. "Who are you?" he stopped. "You are a human, right?"

"Of course," the helmed young man laughed, "although strange beings have been plaguing the country these dark days."

"I wonder who's caused that?" Kalsis said dryly.

"Aye."

Something came to his mind. "Your name wouldn't happen to be Orion, would it?"

The Hero's eyes narrowed. "And if it were?"

"Kalsis." He stuck his hand out.

Orion clasped it. "To the fall of Heartsbane."

"To the fall of Heartsbane."


End file.
